Pitt says: 'get the facts' on cashless cards

HINKLER MP Keith Pitt has promised the Cashless Debit Card will not be as all-encompassing if it comes to the Bundaberg region as in the trials run in Western and South Australia.

Mr Pitt moved to dispel "misinformation" around the proposed card as protesters picketed the Mantra in Hervey Bay where Mr Pitt and Human Services Minister Alan Tudge met with local businesses to spruik the plan.

Kathryn Wilkes organised the protest via the No Cashless Debit Card for Hinkler page on Facebook.

The page has garnered more than 1000 likes in three weeks.

Ms Wilkes and other opponents of the card were concerned it would affect a wide net of Bundaberg residents on welfare via trigger payments including family tax benefits and supplements, which is how trials of the card operated in Ceduna, Kununurra and Wyndham.

But Keith Pitt posted a strong message on Facebook suggesting that would not be the case if the card came to Hinkler, not as a trial but a more permanent measure.

"Get the facts: The trigger payment list that applies to the two Cashless Debit Card trial sites are not relevant to Hinkler, if the card was to be expanded here," the post read.

It did not elaborate on to which payments the card would apply.

Mr Pitt has said the specifics would be nutted out by a "steering committee", the members of which have not yet been announced.

Mr Pitt said yesterday the aim of the card, which places 80% of a person's welfare payment on the debit card and 20% in their regular bank account, was "to prevent people spending all of their welfare on illicit drugs, gambling and alcohol".

"This is the stigma - that (welfare recipients are) parents who can't feed their children, that we're all drug addicts," Ms Wilkes said.

Mr Pitt responded to concerns on social media about the card preventing recipients from paying rent, mortgages and insurance, saying "Centrepay is available for rent or other bills, and direct debits for things like insurance are allowed".

He and Mr Tudge spent the day in Hervey Bay talking to the Chamber of Commerce, welfare groups, churches and community leaders.

"Despite the best efforts of activists to disrupt a business meeting, the discussions were highly productive and we were able to clear up several misconceptions," Mr Pitt said.

"Our meetings in Hervey Bay build on the consultation the Minister and I did in Bundaberg last month."

While Leanne Donaldson held a forum on Monday night to discuss the proposed card, Mr Pitt said his "door was always open for Hinkler residents who have questions or concerns" about the card.

Ms Wilkes said Mr Pitt had been invited to a meeting at the Fraser Coast Community Centre today.

"I bet he won't show."

Mr Pitt said the meeting held by Ms Donaldson was "politically motivated, and not organised to facilitate genuine two-way dialogue".

"The State Member for Bundaberg is spreading misinformation and is unnecessarily scaring vulnerable people," he said.

"To my knowledge, there were no trial participants in attendance to share their experiences; nor were there representatives from the Federal Department of Human Services."